Hilton Head Council slashes rec center funding request, tells them to raise funds

After questions were raised about a $1.2 million funding request from the Island Recreation Association, The Town Council cut the request nearly in half.

Town Council approved spending just more than $700,000 for the expansion of a new recreation center and told association officials it is their job to raise funds for the rest.

“This gives the rec center the opportunity to write some grants,” council member Kim Likins said. “They may discover some of these things can be added later on.”

Likins has been asking questions about the proposal for weeks. She said a fundraising component led by the association was always supposed to be a part of funding the facility, set to open May 2018.

Questions also were raised about a pool dome and playground surface found in the request by Likins. She said the same items were a part of a master plan the council approved in 2014.

Scott Liggett, town director of public projects and facilities, told the Town Council he researched the project and didn’t believe the town required the association provide fundraising for the project. He also said the pool dome and playground surface, while in the master plan, were not included in a bid request the town put out for the nearly $13 million project.

Town Council members disagreed that the project was not supposed to be paid for partly in fundraising.

Mayor David Bennett read through a list of meeting minutes that he said proved that the rec association was always supposed to pay part of the expansion project.

“It strikes me that if an important funding source like this is going to change, it should be called out specifically and voted on again — not forgotten,” Bennett said. “With an eye on transparency, that is where I am directing my focus.”

Likins also said that if the pool dome and equipment were pulled out of the final plans the council should have been notified.

Liggett said following the meeting that staff could have done a better job keeping Town Council in the loop of project changes.

“If I had known where this was going to lead, I would have done things differently,” Liggett said. “No one was trying to surprise anyone, especially not them (Town Council). It just something where you are so close to the project that you assume everyone knows.”

This story was originally published May 16, 2017 at 9:09 PM with the headline "Hilton Head Council slashes rec center funding request, tells them to raise funds."